Cubs 3, Marlins 2 (8.2.16)

In Commentary And Analysis by berselius71 Comments

OSS: The Aprilists wear down a great pitcher and hang on to win.

Three up:

  1. The top two of the Cubs order set the tone for the day, reaching base six out of six times against Marlins ace Jose Fernandez. Fowler led all Cubs hitters with a .183 WPA, and he and Contreras combined to go 5-7 with a walk, two RsBI, and two runs scored.
  2. The biggest single play of the game in the Cubs favor was not Dex’s leadoff triple, but a pickoff of Dee Gordon at first base in the eighth inning by Hector Rondon. Pat and Ron were baffled that Rondon was able to get him, since he had nearly picked him off just seconds before and typically runners get the message when that happens.
  3. Jason Hammel pitched six scoreless innings and looked pretty good, but Maddon did not hesitate for once to pinch hit for him when the Cubs had a chance to add on to their lead against a tiring Fernandez in the bottom of the sixth. Though I’m not so sure that Montero is a much better hitter than Hammel at this point (dying laughing). Joe stuck to his guns when he told Bryant that he would have the day off.

Three down:

  1. It’s been a while since we have seen Bad Strop, and I’m not so convinced we saw him tonight. At least, not in the usual wild fashion that this brings to mind. The big play of the game was a throwing error on Strop that should have been a double play. From the radio call, he threw it both early and at about 100mph to second base and sent the ball into center, which led to both Marlins runs. They might have tied it up were it not for a diving catch by Coghlan to get the Cubs out of the inning.
  2. Ben Zobrist and Javy Baez had lousy nights at the plate, going 0-8 including a first inning double play for Zobrist and three strikeouts for Javy. Not that it’s too surprising for Javy at least, given the platoon disadvantage and quality of the competition.
  3. I have no idea what the hell happened with the Cubs second run, I was up a canyon somewhere and not listening to the radio broadcast. Gameday has it as “Anthony Rizzo flies into double play, left fielder Christian Yelich to first baseman Chris Johnson to catcher JT Realmuto to pitcher Jose Fernandez to second baseman Derek Dietrich. Dexter Fowler scores, Willson Contreras out at second”. It sounds like Yelich screwed up the throw and the Cubs almost double TOOTBLANed?

Next up: The Cubs go for the sweep as John Lackey takes on Tom Koehler at 1:20 PM CT.

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  1. cerulean

    In addition to throwing it early at 100mph, I think Strop was throwing it to Addison. It seemed like it went right by his glove, but he was pulling up to let Zo turn it and so was focused on not running into him. That was a weird play.

    And yes, it was good Strop. A broken-bat single and a tailor-made-if-not-for-the-bad-luck-of-hitting-Strop single bookended the error and an honest-to-goodness single. The Marlins have some good young hitters that can basehit you to death.

    Also, that Coghlan catch was the play of the game. If he played it safe the game was tied, but he didn’t play it safe so if that got past him, the Marlins would have taken the lead on a triple.

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  2. cerulean

    And that second run, Rizzo flied out to shallow left but Contreras either thought it would drop and was almost to second before slamming on the brakes and heading back to first. A halfway decent throw would have got him doubled off easy, but Yelich (I think) long-tossed it about five feet past first. Dexter had gone back to tag, so when he saw the throw he just took off for home. Who’s on first caught the ball off the bag and fired it home too late and the ball got away, so Contreras took off for second and was possibly safe despite being beaten by the throw—but there is little chance a challenge would have overturned the call on the field.

    That was two TOOTBLAN opportunities in one play, but Dexter may not have scored at all if Contreras didn’t do the failed TOOTBLAN.

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  3. Rizzo the Rat

    Truth be told, I should probably drop the good Strop/bad Strop thing. He’s been really good. I just got a little frustrated when he botched that routine double play ball.

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  4. dmick89

    I love Joey Votto, but I’m a sucker for great players. I can’t think of a once legitimately great player that I’ve ever not enjoyed watching.

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  5. Ncablk

    Votto didn’t just sign the ball, he wrote a message on it apologizing and took pictures with the guy

    The shirt tug was typical Votto, but the ball thing was pretty cool.

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  6. dmick89

    Ncablk: Votto didn’t just sign the ball, he wrote a message on it apologizing and took pictures with the guy

    Yeah, that’s going way above and beyond what he needed to do. All he really needed to do was apologize in the post-game remarks.

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  7. cerulean

    Question on Hammel—BBREF has the team option for next year voidable if certain performance thresholds are met—does anyone know what those thresholds are?

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  8. cerulean

    cerulean:
    Question on Hammel—BBREF has the team option for next year voidable if certain performance thresholds are met—does anyone know what those thresholds are?

    Nevermind—found it. The option becomes mutual if he reaches 200 IP this year or gets traded.

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  9. Myles

    cerulean: Nevermind—found it. The option becomes mutual if he reaches 200 IP this year or gets traded.

    It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Cubs don’t pick that option up.

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  10. cerulean

    Myles,

    Averaging 6.2 IP over 12 starts or 7.1 over 11 would allow him to opt out. I have the suspicion that he will often be lifted after six. Turns out the Cubs don’t need starting pitching next year after all.

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  11. cerulean

    I wonder if there is movement in the minors to get relievers, particularly those with notable splits, time learning other defensive positions—basically any of the corners. It might also be interesting for a defense-first player with a live arm to work on two pitches for this purpose.

    I can foresee LOOGY/ROOGY tandems being a new market inefficiency.

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  12. Smokestack Lightning

    Umps got to go. Plain and simple. Let them learn how to take care of the computer that will… on second thought. No. Umps just got to go.

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  13. Smokestack Lightning

    I will definitely take another 25-6 stretch, if that’s what this team is starting on again.

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  14. cerulean

    berselius:
    Kershaw ———> 60 Day DL

    That really sucks for baseball and Kershaw. But I am not sad for the Dodgers.

    Being a Dodgers fan right now must be like being a Red Sox fan in the late nineties, but with the bonus of the Red Sox having the Yankees payroll.

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  15. cerulean

    Rich Harden:
    These one run wins are great and all but it’s not helping the run differential much.

    I am totally okay with alternating between blow-out wins and walk-off wins. The last thing we want is monotony.

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  16. Rizzo the Rat

    Rizzo the Rat:
    Intentionally walking Ruth to get to Gehrig makes no damn sense.

    I can at least see the logic in walking Rizzo to get to Zobrist, even though it worked out badly and may have been the wrong move.

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  17. mikeakaleroy

    I had to pick up my stupid kid at stupid school during the 9th, so I missed the ending. I’m gonna leave the little shit at school from now on.

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  18. cerulean

    mikeakaleroy:
    I had to pick up my stupid kid at stupid school during the 9th, so I missed the ending. I’m gonna leave the little shit at school from now on.

    You are missing opportunities to teach your stupid kid real lessons in life by sending the little shit to school. Kids should hang out with their parents in men’s locker rooms.

    A sticker for your parenting effort: ?

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  19. cerulean

    It seems like people are finally starting to see through Trump. I think he may just one-up his son’s elephant hunting by taking down the Grand Old Party.

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